Predicting Two Position Changes We Will See Ahead of WVU's 2026 Season

The coaching staff may move some pieces around before September 5th, and these two in particular are ones to watch.

Andrew Powdrell

Just 75 days. That's all that stands between the present moment and when the West Virginia Mountaineers kick off the 2026 season against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in Morgantown.

In a little over a month, the Mountaineers will open up fall camp to begin preparation for the season, and while they are going to be installing some things and trying to find out which youngsters can help them this fall, there will still be a ton of focus on figuring out how to get the right 11 on the field.

To get there, though, I think we're going to see two players switch positions. We've talked about both of these guys playing these positions multiple times throughout the offseason, but I'm more confident than ever that we'll see these two moves happen.

Nick Krahe kicks inside to guard

West Virginia University offensive lineman Nick Krahe | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

Because of what the Mountaineers were able to do on the recruiting trail, signing Kevin Brown and landing UConn transfer Carsten Casady, Nick Krahe will be able to slide inside to left guard. This will give WVU the best five on the field, while also the most athletic grouping. Krahe repped there some back in the spring and has some snaps under his belt in games at right guard, so this isn't going to be completely foreign to him.

Andrew Powdrell moves to safety

WVU Athletics Communications

You may still be brushing up on all of the newcomers that make up the WVU roster, and if so, that's okay. We're here to help. Andrew Powdrell, who transferred in from UNLV, had one of the best springs of any defensive transfer. With the Runnin' Rebels, he primarily played on the perimeter at corner. The initial thinking was that he'd be playing the nickel/sam spot for the Mountaineers, but it makes all the sense in the world to have both him and Geimere Latimer on the field together as much as possible.

Latimer could play some corner too, but I think we'll see a heavy dose of him at nickel/sam and Powdrell at safety. Again, this is something that WVU experimented with in the spring, so he's not going to be learning this position on the fly. Zac Alley and his assistants do a really good job of cross-training his defensive backs, so that they can move them around in a pinch if needed.

Also, Oklahoma transfer Maliek Hawkins, the brother of quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr., has turned some heads at nickel/sam, which will give the defensive coaching staff even more confidence to move Powdrell.